Finding the right business partner can be as important as finding the right investment opportunity. A great partner can bring time, money, expertise, and often prove vital to achieving your first MF deal.

Someone who knows all about first deals and partnerships is Joe Fairless, my guest on this week’s show. When I first spoke to Joe on the podcast, back in episode 10, he had just finished closing on a phenomenal 168 unit apartment building for his very first deal. Now, 2 years later, Joe has used the momentum of the first deal to propel himself headfirst into the world of real estate investing, with some incredible results.

Listen as Joe tells us what he’s been up to since we last spoke, including focusing his strengths, utilizing partnerships, and massively growing his real estate portfolio since that vital first deal.

Key Takeaways

[2:52] What Joe has done since his first deal

Grown real estate portfolio from $7m to over $100m in just 2 years

[3:36] How Joe achieved such rapid growth

Partnerships

Identifying his strengths

Finding partners whose strengths differ from his

[5:46] Joe’s key strengths

Identifying opportunities

Building solid business plans

Bringing in investor money

[9:59] Smart partnering

Joe has used partners on all of his deals (7 so far)

He has utilized many different types of partnerships

Joe always chooses partners who can provide a new strength

[16:50] Using co-sponsors

Partnerships can be Limited or General (GP)

GP’s mean bringing someone in on your side to make the deal happen

Joe often arranges compensation packages for co-sponsors

[21:14] Joe’s tips for partnerships

You might have to give up a lot to get that first deal, but that’s OK

Learn to identify when you should and should not partner

[21:45 ] The risks of partnerships

If they are property managers, they could be fired, but still be partners